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A Travel Consultant with Wings
Start of the Holy Family's Journey to Egypt
Part 1 of five articles
Once upon a time - far away in ancient Alexandria, in the borderland where the Nile Delta still fondles the Mediterranean. It was here the Seventh Cleopatra and Mark Antony had their meeting and dwelling place.
This was soon to come to an end, as their romance and dream for a free Egypt was ended by Octavius, along with a snake who once again ended a paradise...
No forbidden apples around this time - nor any garden to be expelled from, but the snake's result is still around.
Octavius becomes Emperor Augustus - an Emperor with an urge for counting. So strong was this new Emperor's urge for real numbers that it became an obsession. He could have counted stars of course, but someone had done that before him - so he decided to get all the inhabitants in his Empire counted...
That included even Joseph, a virgin called Mary and their donkey named Babyloon - all from Nazareth. So off they set to be counted. But the virgin was pregnant and gave birth in a stable in King Arafat's city of Bethlehem. A birthday party was held & among the participants were three wise men and a star.
King Herod who suffered from "New-Kingophobia" - was planning a gruesome deed against all newborn baby boys, to prevent the rising of a new king. The Happy Family and guests did not know - and the guests (wise as they where), left the celebration early and Joseph started to count sheep...
"...And when they where departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and the mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod : that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying , Out of Egypt have I called my son" (Math. 2.13-15)
So you almost forgot THAT part of the christmas celebration, didn't you? The winged travel consultant and the Egyptian journey I mean...
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Map showing the road the Holy Family followed to Egypt.
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Cairo 1998. years later, endless rows of cars filling the streets. Loudspeakers from minarets filling the air - in hard competition with the twang & horns of the traffic. A city with a hangover you think; no my friend - but many flyovers to transport some of the metropolis' 17-18 million inhabitants. On one of these flyovers connecting the Heliopolis area and airport with the downtown, suddenly a large picture on the facade of one of the churches gets close. We are both on same level, thanks to the flyover...
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From one of the flyovers connecting the airport and downtown Cairo...
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The decorative picture show a man in "galabeya" (the long dresses that have become "biblical" to many, but are found still as the normal clothing for a man in many places of Egypt) - after the man we find a woman with a small child riding on a nice donkey. Yes - this is the travel group who followed the advice of the Winged Travel Consultant, 2000 years ago!
I ask the driver to turn left, and soon we are on the way to "Old Cairo", or rather to a crypt under a church. This is the crypt where the legend says that the Holy Family stayed some part of their time in Egypt. Later a Church was built above this cave, whereof the oldest remains that are found dates back to the fifth century. When you are here looking for it, just ask for the Church of "Abu Sarga". The whole area was called "Babylon" after a Roman fort situated here and is today filled with early Christian history, ancient Churches and the Coptic Museum. Here is also located one of the oldest Synagogues in Egypt, the Synagogue of Ben Ezra. The Jewish community of Old Cairo tell you that its history goes back to the times of Moses - even if today's structure dates "only" back to the eight century.
Interested, but far from an expert among the real experts - I go to a good friend, Dr. Gawdat Gabra. He is a former Director of the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egyptologist and Coptologist (scholar specializing in Coptic studies) and author / editor of many books related to Egyptian Cristianity's history. Many of those of you who have visited the beautiful Coptic Museum (which with it's 16,000 pieces, comprising the largest collection of Coptic Art in the world!) did not leave this museum and its unbelievable art and history without one of Dr. Gawdat Gabra's book - "The Coptic Museum & old churches".
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Famous Groppi in Cairo - today only the shell remains of the once so legendary restaurant
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I meet him in the centre of Cairo, just close to famous "Groppi" in a small restaurant called Estoril, waterhole and meeting place for part of the intelligentsia in Cairo. Here foreign correspondents come for the latest news, and sometimes a more well informed tourist can pop in. Maryse Helal, the owner and manager of Estoril used to be a guide for late President Sadat's guests to Egypt's wealth of monuments, now she is around taking care of her own guests. Dr. Gawdat Gabra has arrived before me (not directly standard in this culture..), and after saying hello to friends, I can in the end ask him - "so what about the Holy Family in Egypt, where did they go and where did they stay?" (such a easy introduction question..!).
He looks at me with his knowing smile - his visiting card gives him the title "Coptologist" - which again means that he has papers on his expertise on Coptic / Christian Egypt. I know that he is also an Egyptologist, meaning he knows what happened here the 5000 years before the Holy Family entered this country as well...
So where did they enter?
He explain that it for sure was by crossing the Sinai peninsula - the junction between the Middle East and Africa. Moses had used this area a long time before, but as he and his followers had used the south route - the Holy Family according to all legends, came the "Way of Horus" (the King's road) on the North coast of Sinai. Entering today's Rafaa from Bethlehem, going on to Al Arish - the nice capital of North Sinai - with its famous Palm Beaches (note, this is still an undiscovered destination for mass tourism). Today the weekly bedouin market here is one of the real treasures and secrets of Egypt.
When the Holy Family came there must have been Roman soldiers inhabiting the old Pharaonic fortress in Al Arish.
Imagine yourself being one of these soldiers on the fort seeing a man walking with a young mother with a child, sitting on a donkey. If someone then had told you that these people down on the road, on their way to Egypt, would make a major impact on the worlds history and culture. Would you believe what you were told?
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Text & photo, Arnvid Aakre
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First Published December 1998
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